South Middleton Township's historic Craighead Bridge will be demolished

BOILING SPRINGS — A staggering nearly $600,000 price tag was too wide a span for South Middleton Township officials to cross in order to preserve an historical bridge, which now faces demolition by 2015.

The Craighead Bridge, a one-lane truss structure over Yellow Breeches Creek at the intersection of Route 174 and Zion Road, cost only $4,100 to construct in 1899.

It has recently been deemed structurally deficient, and will be replaced by a new, two-lane concrete bridge 150 yards upstream, costing $2 million, with construction beginning in May 2014.

Cumberland County, which owns the Craighead Bridge, earlier this year asked township officials if they were interested in purchasing it, saying that $80,000 in state and federal money, once marked for demolition costs, could be used instead toward its rehabilitation.

The bridge is located on the township’s logo, alongside the 1854 Ege Bridge, and the 1746 iron furnace.

“However, there was another side to the coin,” Faley said.

County officials brought in an engineer, who told supervisors that the cost to rehabilitate the bridge would be at least $91,000; to open it up to pedestrians would raise that price to $120,000.

“Then came the killer,” Faley said.

To repaint the structure, on which the lead-based paint is currently peeling, the cost would be $500,000.

After hearing from the public and weighing their decisions, supervisors on Thursday voted unanimously against the acquisition of the bridge.

“We don’t have the money now, nor did we believe it was proper to put that burden on a future board,” Faley said, adding that in 10 years, when the paint job would need to be completed, inflation will have pushed that price even higher.

Craighead Bridge will continue to be in use until the new bridge is completed in approximately July 2015.

Plans are in the works to create a pull-off spot along the realigned Zion Road, which would memorialize the Craighead Bridge with an interpretive plaque including a photo and details on its history.

Though the fight for Craighead Bridge has been lost, supervisors may soon have the opportunity to obtain ownership of the old iron furnace, which is currently owned by the municipal authority.

“They offered to give that to us, and we are very much interested…” Faley said.